Phillip J Barrish

Ph.D., 1991,
Cornell University

Professor

Contact

Biography

Phillip Barrish is interested in U.S. literary engagements with health care as a system: a complex, often fragmented set of financial models, institutions, government policies, and personnel whose roles range well beyond patient and care provider. His approach contrasts with most existing work in the field of literature and medicine, which draws on literature as a resource for understanding the illness experience, tracks literary representations of medical practitioners, or uses literary-critical methods to analyze biomedical discourse. U.S. writers who take a systematic approach to health care provision, distribution, and funding include Louisa May Alcott, Charles Chesnutt, Sinclair Lewis, William S. Burroughs, and Chang-Rae Lee, among others.

Courses

E 395M • Hlth/Med/Am Lit Snc Civ War

35875 • Fall 2017
Meets MW 10:00AM-11:30AM PAR 214

Health, Medicine, and American Literature since the Civil War

Description: This course explores representations of health, healing, and medicine in American literature since the Civil War. Our primary historical focus will be literature of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but we will also read selected literary works from later periods. Secondarily, the course will serve as an introduction to the overlapping fields of the health humanities (a more capacious version of the medical humanities) and literature and medicine. Health, Medicine, and American Literature is intended to complement Critical Disability Theory, an English graduate course scheduled to be taught in spring 2018 by Professor Julie Minich. Hence, intellectual, institutional, and political relationships between disability studies and the health humanities (which sometimes include tensions) will be of interest throughout the term.

Part of my interest in teaching the health humanities at the graduate level, even though the field is still somewhat new to me, derives from the publishing and, potentially, job opportunities the field offers. Although this course alone will not prepare English graduate students to be competitive for jobs teaching health humanities to professional and pre-professional health students, it may provide a first step for those who are interested. Because the institutional center of the health humanities lies in medical and related professional schools, the field tends to have a pragmatic focus on preparing its students for careers as clinicians, rather than academics. To a certain extent, this pedagogical emphasis has also determined intellectual trajectories within the field. Arguably, the health humanities remains less “theorized” as an intellectual framework—or, some might say, theorized with less nuance and sophistication—than disability studies and some other closely related fields. I hope to keep the issue of theorization within the health humanities as an intellectually and pedagogically productive question throughout the term, rather than turn the class into one on, say, the biopolitics of American literature (which isn’t to say that biopolitics won’t function as an important analytic lens). We will figure out our approach to many of these questions as we go along.

Reading: The following is a long list of primary texts I’m currently considering. Never fear: the list will be significantly winnowed before the term begins. From the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: Henry James, Washington Square and/or “Daisy Miller”; Sarah Orne Jewett, The Country Doctor;Charles Chesnutt, TheMarrow of Tradition (and probably a couple of the Conjure Tales); Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper; Silas Weir Mitchell, The Autobiography of a Quack; Frances Harper, Iola Leroy; Robert Herrick, The Web of Life; William Carlos Williams, selected doctor stories; Sinclair Lewis, Arrowsmith;miscellaneous selections from medical journals. From later periods: Audre Lourde, The Cancer Journals (selections); William S. Burroughs, Blade Runner (a movie); Anatole Broyard, Intoxicated by My Illness; Paul Monette, Borrowed Time: An Aids Memoir; Mark Doty, Heaven’s Coast: A Memoir; Lionel Shriver, So Much for All That; Chang-Rae Lee, On Such a Full Sea. Scholarly works from which we will read selections may include Rita Charon, Narrative Medicine: Honoring the Stories of Illness; Susan Sontag, Illness as Metaphor and Aids and Its Metaphors; Arthur Frank, The Wounded Storyteller; Gretchen Long, Doctoring Freedom: The Politics of African American Medical Care in Slavery and Emancipation;Paul Starr, The Social Transformation of American Medicine; and essays by Jonathan Metzl, Dorothy Roberts, Catherine Belling, Rafael Campo, Sayantani DasGupta, and others. Students who wish to get a feel for the field of health humanities before the term begins are advised to browse the journals Medicine and Literature and the Journal of the Medical Humanities.

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: From a vantage point informed by feminism and gender studies, this course will explore constructions of masculinity in U.S. fiction, ranging from the Civil War and Reconstruction periods to the present. “Masculinity,” although often viewed as an entirely innate quality, also reflects the assumptions and conventions, spoken and unspoken rules, and approved social roles that define what male identity is—or, rather, what it “should be”—within a given historical and cultural context.

Historically, literature has played an important role in influencing, reflecting, or challenging such constructions. The course title uses the plural term “masculinities” because cultural definitions of masculinity change over time. Even within a given historical moment, different models of masculinity may co-exist, influenced by factors that include, for example, sexual preference, race, class, region, and others. In addition to exploring these themes in literature, students will develop class presentations about models of masculinity in contemporary popular culture, including, for instance, music, visual culture, and other media, as well as contemporary celebrity “personalities.”

This is a discussion-based class in which it is imperative to keep up with the reading assignments. Because the course also carries a writing flag, you should expect to write regularly during the semester, complete meaningful writing projects, and receive feedback from your instructor to help you improve your writing. A substantial portion of your grade will come from your written work.

Texts: Although this list may evolve between now and the beginning of the term, possible readings include Henry James, Daisy Miller; Charles Chesnutt, The Marrow of Tradition; Owen Wister, The Virginian (1903); Edith Wharton, The Custom of the Country; Ernest Hemingway, assorted short stories and/or The Sun Also Rises; Junot Díaz, This Is How You Lose Her; and Alison Bechdel’s graphic narrative Fun Home: A Family Seriocomic, and perhaps one or two films. Secondary sources by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Michael Kimmel, Gail Bederman, and other scholars will be included in a course packet.

Requirements & Grading: Writing 60%; reading quizzes 20%; presentation 10%; active commitment to class 10% (this grade is based not only on your participation in class discussions but also on whether you show up with the relevant text and ready to work everyday, actively listen to what others are saying, and similar factors). Note that problems with attendance or punctuality will severely impact your grade.

Description: This course is designed not only to increase your knowledge and appreciation of American literature but also to improve your skills as an attentively close reader, a critical thinker, and an analytic writer. We will focus on reading literary works in relation to their social and historical contexts, as well as on questions of literary language and form. Students will do a substantial amount of writing at home as well as in class.

Texts: Among others, authors studied will probably include Anne Bradstreet, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Emily Dickinson, Frederick Douglass, Herman Melville, Kate Chopin, Ernest Hemingway, and Sandra Cisneros. Students will buy a course packet as well as a few individual editions of longer works.

Note: Students who do not already own an I-Clicker will be required to obtain one.

Requirements & Grading: Daily reading quizzes using I-Clicker; at-home CRIT exercises (CRIT is an online application that requires students to perform the following six steps in relation to a literary text: Paraphrase, Observe, Contextualize, Analyze, Argue, Reflect); 3 brief critical essays (2-4 pages); regular participation and small group work in class; punctual attendance at all lectures and discussion sections. There may also be a final exam. Please note that I enforce a strict no-screens policy in class, including phones, tablets, and laptops (with exceptions made for students with relevant SSD accommodations). The plus/minus system is used when assigning final grades.

Description: This course is designed not only to increase your knowledge and appreciation of American literature but also to improve your skills as an attentive close reader, a critical thinker, and an analytic writer. We will read literary works in relation to their social and historical contexts and focus closely on language and form. Among others, authors studied will probably include Anne Bradstreet, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Emily Dickinson, Frederick Douglass, Herman Melville, Kate Chopin, Ernest Hemingway, and Sandra Cisneros.

Texts: Students will purchase a course packet as well as a few individual editions.

Note: Students who do not already own an I-Clicker will be required to obtain one for the class.

Requirements & Grading: Reading quizzes and brief writing assignments; in which you respond to what you have read; up to three examinations; participation and other in-class activities; punctual attendance at all class meetings. Please note that I enforce a strict no-screens policy in class—including phones, tablets, and laptops (with exceptions for students who receive relevant SSD accommodations). The plus/minus system is used in assigning final grades.

Description: This course is designed not only to increase your knowledge and appreciation of American literature but also to improve your skills as an attentively close reader, a critical thinker, and an analytic writer. We will focus on reading literary works in relation to their social and historical contexts, as well as on questions of literary language and form. Students will do a substantial amount of writing at home as well as in class.

Texts: Among others, authors studied will probably include Anne Bradstreet, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Emily Dickinson, Frederick Douglass, Herman Melville, Kate Chopin, Ernest Hemingway, and Sandra Cisneros. Students will buy a course packet as well as a few individual editions of longer works.

Note: Students who do not already own an I-Clicker will be required to obtain one.

Requirements & Grading: Daily reading quizzes using I-Clicker; at-home CRIT exercises (CRIT is an online application that requires students to perform the following six steps in relation to a literary text: Paraphrase, Observe, Contextualize, Analyze, Argue, Reflect); 3 brief critical essays (2-4 pages); regular participation and small group work in class. Punctual attendance at all lectures and discussion sections. I enforce a strict no-screens policy in class—including phones, tablets, and laptops.

34530 • Fall 2015
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM CAL 200

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: The fiction of Edith Wharton and Henry James brings keen and often biting insight to depictions of life among the financially “comfortable” classes in the U.S. and Britain at the turn of the 20th century. Despite (and, in a sense, through) their predominant focus on elite sectors of society, both writers engage with their era’s most significant social and cultural tensions, including turn-of-the-century sex/gender crises involving masculinity and the New Woman; conflicts between economic classes; and controversies involving race, ethnicity, and the meaning of “America.” Indeed, the work of these two writers serves as a rich resource for helping us understand similar cultural dynamics of our own time. To enhance our exploration of the cultural resonances of Wharton’s and James’s writing, we will read a couple of selected works by other literary authors that, often in unexpected ways, illuminate and are illuminated by Wharton’s and James’s fiction.

Students should be aware that James’s novels, in particular, are written in a sometimes difficult (but stunning!) style. Be prepared to read some great but challenging texts if you enroll in the class.

Texts: Henry James, Daisy Miller, Washington Square, The Portrait of a Lady, What Maisie Knew; Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth, The Custom of the Country, The Age of Innocence, Summer, miscellaneous stories; Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises; Nella Larsen, Passing. (Please note that all of these choices are subject to change before the semester begins.)

Requirements & Grading: Students will write several short close-reading based papers (2-4 pages) and complete one more involved research assignment, as well as periodic informal writing assignments, including work on the CRIT website (laits.utexas.edu/crit). There will also be an oral presentation and some in-class group work, including at least one-peer editing cycle. Finally, because it is essential to class discussion that everybody keeps up with the reading assignments, reading quizzes will be given at the beginning of every class and count significantly toward the final grade.

Writing assignments, approximately 65%; reading quizzes, approximately 20%; presentation, participation, and other in-class work, approximately 15%. Final grading percentages will appear on the course syllabus.

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: From a vantage point informed by feminism and gender studies, this course will explore constructions of masculinity in U.S. fiction, primarily (though not exclusively) between the Civil War and W.W. II. “Masculinity,” although often viewed as an entirely innate quality, also reflects the assumptions and conventions, spoken and unspoken rules, and approved social roles that define what male identity is—or, rather, what it “should be”—within a given historical and cultural context.

Historically, literature has played an important role in influencing, reflecting, or challenging such constructions. The course title uses the plural term “masculinities” because cultural definitions of masculinity change over time. Even within a given historical moment, different models of masculinity may co-exist, influenced by factors that include, for example, sexual preference, race, class, region, and others. In addition to exploring these themes in literature from the aforementioned period, students will work in teams to develop class presentations about models of masculinity in contemporary popular culture, which may draw from music, visual culture, and other media, as well as contemporary celebrity “personalities.”

This is a discussion-based class in which it is imperative to keep up with the reading assignments. Because the course also carries a writing flag, you should expect to write regularly during the semester, complete meaningful writing projects, and receive feedback from your instructor to help you improve your writing. A substantial portion of your grade will come from your written work.

Texts: Although this list may change, possible readings include Henry James, Daisy Miller; William Dean Howells, The Rise of Silas Lapham; Charles Chesnutt, The Marrow of Tradition; Owen Wister, The Virginian (1903); Edith Wharton, The Custom of the Country; Ernest Hemingway, assorted short stories and/or The Sun Also Rises; Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God; Junot Díaz, This Is How You Lose Her; and James Hannaham, God Says No, as well as at least one feature-length film. Secondary sources by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Michael Kimmel, Gail Bederman, and other scholars will be included in a course packet.

Requirements & Grading: Writing 60%; reading quizzes 15%; presentation 10%; active commitment to class 15% (this grade is based not only on your participation in class discussions but also on whether you show up with the relevant text and ready to work everyday, actively listen to what others are saying, and similar factors). Note that problems with attendance or punctuality will severely impact your grade.

Description: This course is designed not only to increase your knowledge and appreciation of American literature but also to improve your skills as an attentive close reader, a critical thinker, and an analytic writer. We will read literary works in relation to their social and historical contexts and focus closely on language and form. Among others, authors studied will probably include Anne Bradstreet, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Emily Dickinson, Frederick Douglass, Herman Melville, Kate Chopin, Ernest Hemingway, and Sandra Cisneros.

Texts: Students will purchase a course packet as well as a few individual editions.

Note: Students who do not already own an I-Clicker will be required to obtain one for the class.

Requirements & Grading: Reading quizzes and brief writing assignments; in which you respond to what you have read; Three in-class examinations; Participation and other in-class activities; Punctual attendance at all lectures and discussions. Please note that I enforce a strict no-screens policy in class—including phones, tablets, and laptops.

E 395M • American Realism

36355 • Spring 2014
Meets MW 11:00AM-12:30PM CAL 200

Literary realism became a salient feature on the U.S. literary scene in the decades following the Civil War (1861-65). From the mid-1880s until the advent of modernism in the initial decades of the twentieth century, realism represented the most culturally prestigious (though not necessarily the best-selling) form of American fiction. Scholar Stanley Corkin has identified this same period with “the birth of the modern United States” – the time when a great many of the economic structures, cultural forms, and social and political and conflicts, as well as modes of everyday life, that we think of as characteristic of modern American life first took shape. Our course will explore realism and works associated with it from historical, formal, cultural, theoretical, and pedagogical perspectives. Among other axes of meaning and effect, we will pay attention to questions involving gender, race, ethnicity, and class; professionalism and the middle-class identity; speech and “manners”; style and narrative structure; and region and nation.

This course is designed not only to increase your knowledge and appreciation of American literature but also to improve your skills as an attentively close reader, a critical thinker, and an analytic writer. We will focus on reading literary works in relation to their social and historical contexts, as well as on questions of literary language and form.

2) Kate Chopin, The Awakening, Norton Critical Edition. [Please note: If you purchase the Norton Anthology at the University Coop, you will receive a free copy of The Awakening bundled with it.]

3) E316K Course Packet (Barrish)

4) Note: Students who do not already own an I-Clicker will be required to purchase or rent one.

Requirements & Grading: Reading quizzes and brief writing assignments in which you respond to what you have read; Participation and other in-class activities; One midterm and one final examination; Punctual attendance at all lectures and discussion sections.

This course surveys nearly four hundred years of American literature. We will concentrate on relating the diverse "voices" of American literature to one another and to the social and historical contexts appropriate to each, as well as on questions of literary form.

Texts:

1) The Pearson Custom Library of American Literature, edited by Phillip J. Barrish

4) Note: Students who do not already own an I-Clicker will be required to purchase or rent one.

Requirements & Grading: Quizzes and brief, informal writing assignments in which you respond to what you have read; Participation and other in-class activities; One midterm and one final examination; Punctual attendance at all lectures and discussion sections.

34895-34940 • Fall 2012
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM SAC 1.402

Prerequisites: Completion of at least thirty semester hours of coursework, including E 603A, RHE 306, 306Q, or T C 603A, and a passing score on the reading section of the Texas Higher Education Assessment (THEA) test.

Description: Literature in History --

This course surveys nearly four hundred years of American literature. We will concentrate on relating the diverse "voices" of American literature to one another and to the social and historical contexts appropriate to each, as well as on questions of literary form.

Texts: Course packet and selected novels. Students who do not already own clickers will be required to purchase them.

Requirements & Grading: Quizzes and brief, informal writing assignments in which you respond to what you have read; Participation and other in-class activities; One midterm and one final examination; Punctual attendance at all class meetings, including discussion sections.

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: This course will explore constructions of masculinity in American literature, taking a generally but not exclusively feminist perspective. Masculinity, as we will discover, has meant very different things at different times in US history, and has also varied in meaning and significance according to such broad categories of identity as social class, race, region, and queerness. Our primary focus will be on the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but we will also cover more recent materials.

Students should be prepared for a significant amount of reading, some of it challenging either in content or in level of difficulty.

Texts: Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Blithedale Romance; Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of an American Slave, written by himself (1845); Owen Wister, The Virginian (1903); Ernest Hemingway, Assorted short stories; James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room; One (or two) feature-length films suggested by the class; Miscellaneous secondary sources (theoretical, historical, critical) which will be available in a course packet.

Requirements & Grading: An annotated bibliography on some tightly focused topic related to the theme of U.S. masculinities: 10%; Participation in a group presentation on some recent cultural phenomenon or text relevant to the course (e.g., the recent “It Gets Better” youtube project): 20%; 2-page, 3-page, and 8-page essays: 50%; Overall commitment to class (participation, attendance, etc.): 20%.

E 316K • Masterworks Of Lit: American

34735-34751 • Fall 2011
Meets TTH 3:30PM-5:00PM WEL 3.502

Prerequisites: Completion of at least thirty semester hours of coursework, including E 603A, RHE 306, 306Q, or T C 603A, and a passing score on the reading section of the Texas Higher Education Assessment (THEA) test.

Description: Literature in History --

This course surveys nearly four hundred years of North American literature. Among the many writers we will consider are Anne Bradstreet, Benjamin Franklin, Handsome Lake, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emily Dickinson, Harriet Jacobs, Henry James, Kate Chopin, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Langston Hughes, Sylvia Plath, Helen María Viramontes, and Li-Young Lee. We will concentrate on literary form, as well as on relating the diverse "voices" of American literature to one another and to the social and historical contexts appropriate to each.

Requirements & Grading: Quizzes and brief, informal writing assignments in which you respond to what you have read; Two midterm examinations; One final examination; Punctual attendance at all class meetings, including discussion sections.

E 395M • Amer Literary Masculinities

35700 • Fall 2011
Meets TTH 12:30PM-2:00PM MEZ 1.104

Masculinities in U.S. Literature and Culture

This course will take as its focus diverse forms of “masculinity” as they have been constructed by U.S-American literary and cultural texts from roughly the end of the Civil War to the beginning of World War II, with some attention also paid to the rest of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century. The course will in addition serve as an introduction to the burgeoning field of Masculinity Studies, where our emphasis will be on history, theory, and literary/cultural criticism. As we will discover, masculinity has meant different things at different times in US history, and has also varied in meaning and significance according to such broad categories of identity as race, class, national origin or citizenship status, and sexuality. And of course even synchronous texts within identity categories elaborate a range of different positions regarding standard constructions of masculinity and possible alternatives to or subversions of them.

Virtually any literary or cultural text in which gender plays a role (which essentially means any text ever written) conveys ideas about masculinity to its audience, whether explicitly or implicitly. In addition, the amount of available secondary material on masculinity is already quite large and is rapidly growing larger. Our course will necessarily take the form of a selective (rather than comprehensive) survey, with all of the weaknesses and strengths that the survey format implies. I might add that although I am familiar with most of the literature we will be reading, masculinity studies is still a relatively new field for me: we will be learning and exploring together.

Here is a preliminary sampling of authors and texts I am so far considering, listed in a somewhat jumbled but not entirely meaningless order. Note that some of these works may not make it to the final syllabus and that other possibilities will almost certainly emerge.

Secondary

Michael Kimmel, Manhood in America: A Cultural History (1997); Gail Bederman, Manliness and Civilization: A Cultural History of Gender and Race in the United States, 1880-1917 (1996); Laura Mulvey, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975); Kevin Gaines, Uplifting the Race: Black Leadership, Politics, and Culture in the Twentieth Century (1997) and/or Clarence Lang,?Manliness and Its Discontents: The Black Middle Class and the Transformation of Masculinity, 1900-1930 (2005); Eve Sedgwick, Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire (1985); Judith Butler, excerpts from Gender Trouble (1993) and Bodies That Matter (1990).

Requirements:

A three-page response paper

A class presentation on some cultural phenomenon or text relevant to the course, accompanied by an annotated bibliography.

E S370W • Lit/Film: Gend/Rlsm/Gothic-Eng

83825 • Summer 2011

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: Gender, genre, and the gothic in 19th-century British fiction--

Since the eighteenth century, the staples of the gothic genre have remained surprisingly consistent:

Gothic heroines who find themselves in jeopardy.

Gothic heroes haunted by murderous doubles.

Gothic villains associated with “deviant” sexualities.

Menacing mansions and secret rooms; murder and mayhem; pervading darkness (literal and figurative) and a great deal of dreadful weather.

Through the critical lens supplied by gender studies, this course will engage in a series of close textual analyses to illuminate how gothic elements—both narrative and aesthetic—serve to express, reinforce and/or subvert cultural ideas about femininity and masculinity in a selection of nineteenth-century British novels. We will also pay special attention to the intrusion of gothic elements into everyday life—this question will lead us to explore the intersection of literary gothic (usually considered a non-realist genre) with literary realism. Can gothic better express certain realities than realism can? In fact, can reality itself be gothic?

Texts: Primary texts so far include Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey (written 1789; pub. 1818), which will lead us to visit the resort town of Bath; Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1847), which (if all things go according to plan) will result in an overnight trip to the Yorkshire moors and the tiny, dark parsonage in which the Brontë sisters grew up; Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886); and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897). Both of the latter texts will involve prowling around dark and scary corners of London, including the famous Victorian burial ground Highgate Cemetery.

Requirements & Grading: Grading will be based primarily on short writing assignments, a presentation, and overall engagement with the course (attendance, participation, etc.).

E 316K • Masterworks Of Lit: American

34990-35035 • Spring 2011
Meets TTH 9:30AM-11:00AM WCH 1.120

This course surveys nearly four hundred years of North American literature. Among the many writers we will consider are Anne Bradstreet, Benjamin Franklin, Handsome Lake, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emily Dickinson, Harriet Jacobs, Henry James, Kate Chopin, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Langston Hughes, Sylvia Plath, Helen María Viramontes, and Li-Young Lee. We will concentrate on literary form, as well as on relating the diverse "voices" of American literature to one another and to the social and historical contexts appropriate to each.

Grading Policy: Quizzes and brief, informal writing assignments in which you respond to what you have read, Two midterm examinations, One final examination, Punctual attendance at all class meetings, including discussion sections.

Prerequisites: Completion of at least thirty semester hours of coursework, including E 603A, RHE 306, 306Q, or T C 603A, and a passing score on the reading section of the Texas Higher Education Assessment (THEA) test.

E 349S • James And Wharton

34675 • Fall 2010
Meets TTH 9:30AM-11:00AM GAR 0.128

Only one of the following may be counted: E 349S (Topic: James and Wharton), 376L (James/Wharton: Novel of Manners), 379S (embedded topic: James and Wharton: American Novel of Manners).

Course Description: The novels of Henry James and Edith Wharton concentrate on life among the financially “comfortable” classes in late nineteenth and early twentieth century America. We will read as many works by these two authors as time allows. (The list below includes some of the texts that we may read, but I may also make some changes to it.) In exploring these works, we will discuss such issues the social construction of "whiteness" as a racial identity; the development of very fine gradations in social and cultural prestige; the significance of social climbing; and turn-of-the-century sex/gender crises involving masculinity and the New Woman. Students should realize that the novels of James, in particular, are long and written in a rather difficult (but stunning!) style. Be prepared for this if you enroll in the class.

Texts: Henry James: Daisy Miller, The Europeans, The Portrait of a Lady, Washington Square, The Turn of the Screw, What Maisie Knew, The Ambassadors; Edith Wharton: The House of Mirth, The Custom of the Country, The Age of Innocence, Summer, Collected Stories. We will view Martin Scorcese’s film version of The Age of Innocence and Jane Campion's film The Portrait of a Lady.

Grading: Students will write two short papers (2 and 4 pages, respectively) and one longer paper (8-10 pages). Everybody will also have to do one in-class presentation, and several informal one-page "response" papers. There will also be some in-class group work, including at least one-peer editing cycle (and possibly a group presentation). Finally, because it is important to class discussion that everybody keep up with the reading, I will give some "pop" quizzes on it. Strict attendance and punctuality will of course be required. Paper #1 (2 pages): 15%; Paper #2 (3 pages): 20%; Paper #3 (8-10 pages): 30%; Miscellaneous (response papers, group work, quizzes, overall engagement with course): 35% [Note: the grading for this category will be clarified on the syllabus.]

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Handouts, pdf files, etc. distributed throughout the term and/or available on our BlackBoard site (login at www.courses.utexas.edu).

Class Policies and Requirements, and Grading

This is an upper-division literature class with a substantial writing component. Hence, you should expect to do a lot of reading and writing. I hope that you (and I!) will find the class enjoyable, thought-provoking, and educational.

Please make sure to:

Complete every reading assignment before the class session during which it will be discussed. (I may “encourage” you to do this by giving unannounced reading quizzes.)

Have a copy of the relevant text on your desk when class begins every day.

Contribute to class discussion a minimum of two times per week (this is a guideline—I won’t be keeping strict track of it).

Handouts, pdf files, etc. distributed throughout the term and/or available on our BlackBoard site (login at www.courses.utexas.edu).

Class Policies, Requirements, and Grading

This is an upper-division literature class with a substantial writing component. Hence, you should expect to do a lot of reading and writing. I hope that you (and I!) will find the class enjoyable, thought-provoking, and educational in many ways. My most concrete pedagogical goal this term is to improve your skills at critical analysis, which will serve you well no matter what path you pursue in the future. For these good things to occur, we all have to take seriously our membership in the class’s intellectual community. Although I will do some lecturing (especially when we begin a new text), the preponderance of class time will be devoted to various forms of discussion. Discussion does not achieve its purpose unless everybody contributes—not necessarily during each and every class, but on a regular basis. In sum, you and I share the responsibility of investing enough of ourselves in the class to make it a success.

To that end, please make sure to:

Complete every reading assignment before the class session during which it will be discussed. (I may “encourage” you to do this by giving unannounced reading quizzes.)

Have a copy of the relevant text on your desk when class begins every day.

Contribute to the online discussion boards.

Read your classmates’ contributions to the discussion boards.

_______ (to be filled in by class).

Academic Honesty:

Any violation of academic honesty, including plagiarism, will result in a major grade reduction for the course and a report being made to Student Judiciary Services. Plagiarism does not refer merely to copying language directly from an external source (book, article, website, unpublished essay written by somebody else, etc.) without acknowledgment, but also to ideas and insights found in the work of others. Even if you put somebody else’s idea or insight into your own words, you must acknowledge its source. For further information on academic honesty and how to avoid violating it, please go to http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/scholdis_plagiarism.php.

Academic Accommodations:

Any student with a documented disability (physical or cognitive) who requires academic accommodations should be in touch with the Services for Students with Disabilities area of the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259 (voice) or 471-4641 (TTY for users who are deaf or hard of hearing). Please do not hesitate to let me know of any accommodations you require: I will be happy to work with you.

For more information, please download the full syllabus.

Publications

The Cambridge Introduction to American Literary Realism (Cambridge University Press, 2011).

White Liberal Identity, Literary Pedagogy, and Classic American Realism (The Ohio State University Press, 2005).